RETURN TO FORM

Peter Reckell is excited about Bo's new chapter on DAYS.

- Janet Di Lauro

Stepping back into Bo Brady’s shoes takes some effort for Peter Reckell; particularly when he gets a script with a shirtless scene in the mix. “I told them when I was, like, 40, ‘Hey, if I have to do a scene without my shirt, please tell me a month or two in advance,’ ” recounts Reckell. Especially back then, when you had these young guys on the show who would come in and just looked like statues.”

Nevertheless, there was no advance notice this time around. “They didn’t tell me that I was going to be shirtless,” says the actor, admitting that getting back into camera-ready shape “was work. Believe me.”

That “work” consisted “mostly of shoveling snow,” notes Reckell, who currently resides in Alaska. “And there was a little bit more time in the gym, too. I just wanted to get in shape, because you never know what’s going to happen when you’re on the show. It occurred to me, when I was on the bench press or something, I was thinking, ‘You know what? I never go to the gym unless I’m working.’ ”